# Treatment of Circadian Disruption from Shiftwork in Older Adults

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $447,061

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 The American workforce is aging; by 2020, a quarter of the workforce will be over 55 years old. As sleep and
circadian challenges are magnified in older adults, countermeasures for these workers, especially those working
night shifts, are imperative. Night shift work leads to a mismatch between the timing of circadian rhythms and
the timing of the work/sleep schedule. This in turn leads to sleepiness during nighttime work, increasing the risk
of performance errors and injuries. Night shift workers also typically sleep in the morning after returning from
work, thereby arising 8+ h prior to their next night shift. They thus begin work with a great amount of sleep
pressure due to prolonged wakefulness, further exacerbating their sleepiness. While a number of strategies to
improve sleep and alertness in shift workers have been tested, few such studies have been carried out in older
adults. In the previous grant period we tested a sleep timing strategy in a lab study in older adults: scheduling
sleep to begin in the early afternoon and extend into the evening, such that awakening occurs 1-2 h prior to the
next night shift. We found that the older participants were able to spend 8 h in bed in the afternoon-evening, they
got significantly more (and less disrupted) sleep than participants who slept ad lib, their night shift alertness and
performance was increased, and they showed reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
 We now propose to translate that laboratory-tested sleep intervention to an operational environment and
evaluate its efficacy, feasibility and acceptability. In a Field Trial, we will conduct a randomized study of the
8h afternoon-evening sleep intervention in older nurses to evaluate its efficacy for improving sleep
duration/quality and performance/alertness across 3 consecutive night shifts. Exploratory analyses will focus on
stress, subjective fatigue, mood, and quality of life. We will also Survey a large group of older night shift workers
to determine their typical sleep timing, factors influencing their sleep timing and duration following night shifts,
and challenges to an 8h afternoon-evening sleep episode, to explore the feasibility of disseminating and
implementing this intervention among a broad population of older night workers. To further understand how 8h
afternoon-evening sleep impacts on- and off-shift activities in “real life” and barriers to adoption of such a
schedule, we will carry out Focus Groups where the feasibility and acceptability of the sleep intervention will
be explored.
 Inadequate sleep is one of the most challenging problems affecting the 3 million older American night workers.
Given our increasing understanding of how sleep deficiency contributes to adverse performance, health, safety,
and quality of life, it is imperative to translate successful laboratory countermeasures and test them in operational
settings. This rigorously designed study will evaluate such a countermeas...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9890984
- **Project number:** 5R01AG044416-07
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Jeanne F Duffy
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $447,061
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-15 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9890984

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9890984, Treatment of Circadian Disruption from Shiftwork in Older Adults (5R01AG044416-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9890984. Licensed CC0.

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